Typographical slug casting machine



Sept. 29, 1936. ALBRECHT 2,05,644

TYPOGRAPHICAL SLUG CASTING MACHINE Filed June 3, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet l I F101. F/GJ r .r

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Sept. 29, 1936. c E H 2,055,644

TYPOGRAPHICAL SLUG CASTING MACHINE Filed June 5, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 hvmvroa C. a. W

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Patented Sept. 29, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TYPOGRAPHICAL SLUG CASTING MACHINE Christian Augustus Albrecht, Berlin, Germany,

assignor to Mergenthaler Linotype Company,

Brooklyn, N. Y., a company of New York 4 Claims.

This invention relates to typographical slug casting machines such as those known commercially under the registered trade-mark Linotype, wherein the operative cycle, in the normal working of the machine, is automatically started when a composed line of matrices is introduced into the so-called first elevator and automatically stopped at the completion of the cycle. Such machines are usually provided with a starting and stopping lever located within easy reach of the operator seated in front of the keyboard, by which the driving clutch can be thrown in and out at will at any stage of the cycle. It has been proposed to provide such a machine with an auxiliary starting and stopping lever ar ranged at the rear, for use on occasions when the operator, for making adjustments or the like, is working at .a part of the machine from which the ordinary starting handle is inaccessible.

In more recent developments arrangements have been made whereby a line of matrices pre- -viously assembled in a hand composing stick :may be introduced into the machine, and when these arrangements are in use, the keyboard is idle and the operator stands in front of the casting mechanism for the purpose of inserting the hand-composed matrices, for example into the first elevator or the vise frame of the machine, and attending to the casting operation. From this position the usual starting and stopping lever is not conveniently accessible, and the object of the present invention is to provide auxiliary means for controlling the starting and stopping of the machine conveniently located for use when the machine is being operated under the before-mentioned conditions. The auxiliary means according to the invention are preferably arranged to act in conjunction with either the usual starting and stopping lever or with a member of the automatic control mechanism with which the said starting and stopping lever is connected.

The invention is hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings, illustrating difierent constructional forms thereof. In the said drawings:-

Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the pertinent parts of a machine with one constructional form of the invention applied thereto;

Figure 2 is a plan view, and Figure 3 a front elevation, of the parts shown in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic side elevation showing the general arrangement of a further constructional form of the invention;

Figure 5 is a perspective view, drawn to a larger scale, of certain parts of the starting and stopping mechanism;

Figure 5 is a sectional view, drawn to a still larger scale, of the constructional form of starting handle illustrated in Figures 4 and 5;

Figure 7 is an elevation, partly in section, of the parts shown in Figure 6 as viewed from the left of that figure;

Figure 8 is a view similar to Figure 3 showing the parts in a different position.

The known starting and stopping lever b normally used by the operator when seated at the keyboard, is illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 3. This lever b is pivotally mounted on a stud b located on the machine frame A, and has one arm connected by a link 6 tothe starting and stopping rod I. By the movement of the lever 1) towards the front of the machine, 1. e. to the position in which it is shown in dotted lines in Figure 2, the rod 1 is moved rearwardly and the machine started; to stop the machine the lever b is moved to the position in which it is shown in dot-and-dash lines in Figure 2. The connections from the rod 1 to the driving mechanism are well known, and for that reason are not herein fully described. It may be noted, however, that rearward movement of the rod 1 serves to rotate a vertical sleeve E (Figure 5) and to bring an arm E on the said sleeve out of engagement with a trip deg C pivotally mounted on a stud D carried by a cam C on the cam shaft B. The trip dog C is thus moved out of engagement with a stop lever F and the cam shaft permitted to make one revolution, at the completion of which it is stopped by the re-engagement of the trip dog C with the stop lever f, the sleeve E being normally held by a spring in the position in which it is shown in Figure 5.

According to the constructional form of the invention illustrated in Figures 1 to 3, a vertically movable auxiliary starting rod n is mounted in the machine frame. The upper end of this rod 11. is provided with an operating knob 0, while its lower end engages one arm 13 of a lever pivoted at t to the machine frame, the other arm 11 of which is located in a position to engage the rear of the lever b.

Thus, when the starting rod n is depressed and the lever p, 10 thus turned in a clockwise direction about its pivot t (as viewed in Figure 1), the lever 11 will be moved to the position shown in dotted lines in Figure 2 and the machine started.

Near its upper end the rod 11 has formed in it a notch 12 adapted to be engaged by the bevelled inner end of a locking pin q mounted in a recess in the frame A, a spring 5 being provided which tends to move the pin into engagement with the notch n At its outer end the pin q is provided with a knurled head r by which it may be withdrawn out of engagement with the notch. With this arrangement, when the rod 12 is depressed it is automatically locked in the depressed position by the engagement of the pin q in the notch W, and the machine will remain operative until the rod is released by the withdrawal of the pin. If desired, the pin q may be provided with a locking device by which it may be secured in the retracted position in which it is shown in Figure 1, so that the rod 72 will not be locked in its depressed position and its depression then result in the completion of only one operative cycle, the automatic stopping mechanism being permitted to operate.

According to the constructional form of the invention shown in Figures 4 to 8, a horizontally movable auxiliary starting rod u, is employed, and the inner end of the said rod is arranged to act upon an arm E carried by the sleeve E above referred to. The outer end of the rod u is surrounded by a sleeve 11 attached to a knob 0 Between the sleeve 1) and the rod u a spring w is interposed and a guiding rod y may be attached to the sleeve or rod, the said guiding rod, when attached to the sleeve, engaging in a corresponding hole or recess in the rod u. The sleeve 21 is further provided with a pin 12 which slides in a groove .2 in the bearing a on the machine frame. In the rear face of the bearing a (see Figures 6 and 8) there is a recess 2 When this constructional form of the invention is used, it is merely necessary, for starting the machine, to press in the knob 12 so as to move it from the position in which it is shown in Figure 6 to that shown in Figure 8. If the knob is then released, the machine will stop in the usual manner after one operative cycle, the spring acting upon the shaft E pressing back the rod u. Naturally, the sprir: to must be stronger than the spring acting upon the shaft E.

If it is desired to run the machine continuously, the knob '0 must be turned after starting up.

The pin 12 then engages the groove 2 (Figure 8) so that the rod it cannot be pressed back. To stop the machine, the knob v is turned back 180.

It will be understood that the constructional forms of the invention hereinbefore described are given merely as convenient examples, and that variations in the details thereof may be adopted without departing from the invention. For instance, the rod u of the last-described constructional form may be somewhat inclined instead of horizontal, and the connections between the auxiliary starting knobs and the starting mechanism, as well as the locking devices, may be modified.

Having described my invention, I declare that what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:-

1. In a typographical slug casting machine adapted to be employed for the casting of slugs from both hand-composed and machine-composed matrices, the combination With a main starting and stopping device operable from the front of the machine and adapted for use when casting from machine-composed matrices, of a differently located auxiliary starting and stopping device also operable from the front of the machine and adapted for use when casting from hand-composed matrices.

2. In a typographical slug casting machine, a combination according to claim 1 wherein the auxiliary starting and stopping device comprises a vertically guided rod the lower end of which is operatively connected with a member of the main starting and stopping device.

3. In a typographical slug casting machine, a combination according to claim 1 wherein the auxiliary starting and stopping device comprises a substantially horizontally guided rod having an outer end accessible at the front of the machine and an inner end operatively connected with a member of the main starting and stopping device.

4. In a typographical slug casting machine, a combination according to claim 1 characterized by a locking device adapted to retain the auxiliary starting and stopping rod in the active position to which it is moved for starting the machine.

CHRISTIAN AUGUSTUS ALBRECHT. 

